Tournament: Championship Expansion Part 6 #3

I've written up about many tournaments of Pokémon games I've participated in, from earlier forays with VGC to more recent dealings with Pokémon Go PvP. Now, I'm about to add another one: a TCG tournament. After having attended my local group's meetings regularly but not playing, a week ago, I finally participated in one of the regular tournaments, making it my first-ever participation in a TCG tournament as well. Luckily, I had one-half of what I needed to get set up for it, and last week's meeting provided the other half.

This tournament was the third in the sixth part of a series that is called the "Championship Expansion", hence the title of the tournament. The tournaments in this series reward certain cards for the participants, and in this case, it rewards a Dragonite card with a Master Ball background motif. Unlike other tournaments I've participated in, it was also a paid one, but in return for participating, I stood a chance of not only earning the card, but also getting a booster pack of cards that could be used to further my own TCG initiatives.

Back to the things I needed to be able to participate, one of them was a local TCG account, which incidentally was set up by Ash when he was sent to PFJ; thus, something that I didn't think could come in handy over a year ago ended up being as such. The other thing I needed was a deck, of course, and that came courtesy of a generous soul, who set me up with a deck called "Carnival" based on Thwackey and Dipplin. I had seen the deck and playtested it once on a previous meeting, and it was a simple deck I could deal with.

At least, that was the thinking. Through the four rounds of the Swiss round tournament, organized just like for VGC and PvP, I lost three times and was saved by a bye on the last round (there was an odd number of tournament participants). Against two opponents, I was also working against decks with Pokémon that resisted Grass attacks - which was obviously the modus operandi of the deck provided to me - and thus my fate was pretty much sealed, especially since there wasn't much "wiggle room" in my initial deals.

Still, another factor in play could be that I haven't figured out the optimal play of the provided deck, given this was only the second time I've actually dealt with it. Even so, I did realize the core point for the setup involving the Pokémon in the deck, even if I couldn't make it happen as I played. It's a deck I'd love to replicate by myself, though as with the TCG in general, it would take some investment... maybe even less so with the TCGL, and that can serve as the method for making the replication given its contents.

When the tournament ended, I was tied for 13th, kept off the bottom by two other less fortunate participants. I received the focus card of the tournament as well as a booster pack, which didn't appear to have any valuable cards when I opened it - although this may change with further observations. A group photo was taken to commemorate the occasion, and that was it. The proceedings went just like that of the previous meeting, except this time I was really and truly involved in playing the game.

Given the necessities of the tournament and regularly scheduled forthcoming ones, this might not be the last time I'll participate in one - though with the payment restriction, it might be the last one for now as I make other considerations involving payment. For the first time out with a TCG tournament, it seems to not be all bad except for the state of me not knowing my deck fully and having others stack up against it. And that manages to expand my tournament dealings and what I can write about them on this blog.

One year ago: Pokémon Brand Parodies, Third Take

Two years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day Goodies, Round 5

Three years ago: To Be a Snorlax

Four years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 9/20/2020

Five years ago: The Friendly Manual

Six years ago: Pokémon Go Event Rollup, 9/20/2018

Seven years ago: Meeting, Parting with, and Missing Friends